A Wolf's Tale
by Jakei-sama
Summary: Yamcha's backstory was never explained; life before being introduced as the ruthless desert bandit that was petrified of beautiful women. Ever wondered what happened to his parents? Why he grew up a loner? What made him grow an innate love for wolves and their style? Where'd he get his sword? How does he know of Grampa Gohan? Here is my take on Yamcha's story: a nine chapter tale.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Parents of the Wolf**

* * *

Ever had that feeling of when your eyes meet a certain person across the room and your heart grows a mind of its own and begins to beat fast? Knowing that you'd love to talk to them and say high and spark up a conversation, but just moving in their direction felt like the most impossible thing ever? Many people, including the author of this story has went through this before, and quite frankly, many people can find this relatable.

Many people sure, but Chawmen wasn't many people. Whenever he saw a beautiful woman across the room that he knew he could get, he just needed to have her. There were no ifs, ands, or buts about it. After just mere seconds of thinking of what decision to make, the final answer was just that - final. To go back against his own decision felt as if he was fighting against his answer, so whenever he mentally noted "I am going to talk to this woman and get her number," there was no turning back. And the best part? Chawmen, the man himself, was captivating; over six feet, broad shoulders, a defined jawline, and amazingly pinched eyebrows with narrow eyes that'd make any hormonal female shake in their pants. It also helped that he was very toned and had a beautiful, sparkling curly afro that fell to his shoulders.

That was him.

Arriving in a public area - no matter how little or how small - meant that he was going to inevitably get a pair of a woman's eyes coming his way, and maybe even a few men's that went the other way. As much as he loved the attention, he was focused on one of the few people that had her mind elsewhere.

Chawmen's black eyes wouldn't leave the woman who was buying black coffee at the little cafe shop early in the morning. She was 5 feet, 11 inches, long legs with a small and petite behind that most men would die to have in their bed for just one night. Once she flipped her long, wavy hair behind her shoulders, he got a good look at the natural dimples on the cheek of her face. That was it. He needed to meet her.

"Hello….earth to Chawmen."

Chawmen turned around to face the woman he was on a date with. She had her hands in his peripheral, snapping, but it wasn't until she called his name that she managed to get his attention.

"Yeah?"

"You got the tab, right? For our breakfast?"

"Oh." Chawmen began to chuckle as he started curling the back of his head with the tip of his index finger. "I forgot, haha."

The woman he was with grew hot in the face at the fact that he couldn't at least pay the tab, but that cheesy grin of his was just too hard to not resist. "Fine," she huffed. Digging into her bag, she grabbed her wallet and pulled out the last of her money. Once she placed the money down on the table with a minor tip, she got up from the chair. "You know you're going to owe me, right?"

"Tonight?" Chawmen grinned.

She winked and clicked her tongue. "Damn right. Need a ride back home?"

Chawmen looked away for a moment, his eyes darting all over the place desperately in search for the woman who had caught him earlier. Seeing she was in the very back drinking coffee and reading a book, he had a subtle smile that went unnoticed by his date. "Yeah, but allow me to go relieve myself first."

"K, I'll be in the car."

Chawmen got up on his feet and began to stall for a minute by fixing his shirt, pants, and bending down to re-tie his shoes. By the time he was done, the lady was in the car, waiting as she began to go over her make-up. Seeing the light was as green as it could ever be, Chawmen walked over to the bathroom.

As he approached the restroom, he stared hard at the young, fine lady reading a book. She glanced at him, but didn't get a good look at his face as he headed into the bathroom.

She simply minded her business and kept reading.

Once Chawmen came out, he didn't hold anything back at all. He sat right down at the table across from her and stuck his hand out.

"Chawmen. How ya doin'?"

She didn't think anything of a simple hand at first, but subsequent to removing her reading glasses and getting a good look at his face, she was rather stunned that she was approached by him. A man with such good looks, was destined to become a model just as she was doing. It wasn't very often in her line of work that men looking as great as him would approach her, a woman working her way up on the ladder in the big business.

That smile. That was what got her.

As if a pull was forcing her to reach her hand out for him, both of their hands interlocked.

"Kao," she introduced herself. "Pung Kao."

* * *

The amount of effort that the average joe needed to put in order to look minimally decent on a date would seem desperate to other people - especially those who were naturally good-looking. Chawmen, despite his irresistible allure put one hundred percent effort into looking decent for the night. Despite wearing casual wear, it just made him pop out a lot more; he wore a basic white t-shirt with folded sleeves and a dark blue jean jacket with some black denim pants and pristine white sneakers with a dark red color on the mid-soles. He put his curly hair into a pony tail and even went out of his own way to meet up with one of his other side pieces so that she could fix his face with a wax and even gave him a slit on the eyebrow. And this wasn't even counting the shining jewelry he had on his ears and wrist.

Nevertheless, Chawmen was dressed up to the point that if looks could kill, he'd have committed genocide by now. As he stood in front of the mirror, checking out his face and rubbing on his chin, a rang from the living room sounded out. Knowing it could be one of his twenty ladies calling him. He went to the phone, picked it up, and asked, "Hello?"

One thing about Chawmen; he never assumed the name of any female while on the phone due to the fact he was talking to so many. He kept a mental note of what they each sounded like and it all just clicked. But even still, his brain could be wrong at times so he just kept shut.

"Hey, Chawmen, you still up for tonight?"

Chawmen paused briefly and gave it some thought.

It was already evening with the moon out on the horizon, ready to bask the world in its pure beauty, which meant that this woman who took him out on a little date earlier was expecting him to come very soon. He very much wanted to repay the favor in form of sexual intercourse, for she was the best he ever had - though not only that but she gave him all sorts of gifts, too - mostly in the form of money.

But even still, there was something about this Kung Pao.

Chawmen, as always, had to work his way around altering plans because there were a lot of times where another thing with another female would come up - sometimes five at one time. And the great thing about it was that he had the best excuses.

"Baby, my great great uncle's son's cousin on my mama's side is having a real bad time with dementia right now and he's being taken care of. I need to go in and see him for a while - show support you know? I may be late, okay?"

Most the time all it took was a simple lie, but at other times, a lie needed to be added on top the primary lie in order to truly said it. So when the woman over the phone said, "Well, I can go over to the hospital - bring some food, drinks, and show my support, too. You know I'd do anything to get on your good side - especially show love to your family."

Chawmen didn't speak to any of his brothers or sisters - not once he moved out anyway. He was always so focused on women and himself that he pretty much ostracized himself from his own family. Truth be told, his great great uncle's son's cousin probably didn't even exist for all he knew. Regardless, this wasn't a game that he was playing - all of it was chess; and Chawmen was in it to win.

"Babe, it's not at the hospital. It's at his wife's home all the way by the border of Yahhoi. You're far enough from me enough as is already and I don't want to burden you by having you bring all sorts of gifts. I appreciate the thought - I really do, but you don't have to, seriously."

A brief moment of silence came up on the other end. Chawmen was capable of reading all types of women like a book - even when they weren't face to face. The fact that she went silent meant that she was upset, though Chawmen didn't know her well enough to tell exactly just how upset she was. After all, he only met this woman a month ago. Just as he began to open his mouth to put the nail in the coffin, she responded with, "Alright. Just take care of yourself, okay? I hope you can make it back in time so that I can wake up to you lying next to me."

Chawmen had to stifle a chuckle. "Yeah, you've got it. Love you."

"I love you, too."

After the click of the house phone indicated that the call was over, Chawmen grabbed a few mints on the counter and the keys to the brand new car that was delivered over to his house as a present from his least favorite side-girl.

* * *

By the time that he made it outside, he saw this young woman standing next to a covered area where people tended to wait for the bus. Chawmen could just tell as he looked from behind that it was her - the one and only. As soon as Chawmen came down the steps of his marvelous apartment, a smile came upon her face. Chawmen mirrored her facial expression, which only drove the female to blush.

She was wearing a nice polka dot sun dress with nice high-heels that showed off her long model legs as well as part of her thighs. And greatest of her, she curled her hair, which was now down to her shoulders. She approached Chawmen and stuck her hand out. "Good to see you, Chawmen."

Chawmen frozed for a bit and feigned shock. Pung, confused, looked on in a bit of worry. "Something the matter?"

Chawmen just went in for a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "I don't know about you, but where I'm from, men and women great each other with affection - especially if the man is before a beautiful woman such as yourself."

This only caused Pung's cheeks to get redder. She looked around, clutching on her purse, as if she was looking for something. Her fingers constantly tapped and she wiggle her leg slightly - almost enough to the point where she could trip over her heel and fall. Chawmen read her body language like a book and noticed that she was nervous. "You don't go on many dates, do you?"

Pung scoffed with a subtle fit of laughter before replying, "No, this is my first actually..."

First?

That was all he needed to know.

Chawmen looked over to the vehicle outside and motioned her over. She stood still, looking perplexed as Chawmen opened the driver's door. Before he got in, he turned his head and asked her, "What's wrong? You get motion sickness or something?"

She rose her finger to the grey colored vehicle and almost stuttered. "I thought you said that you didn't have a car."

Chawmen grinned. "Well, I didn't...until earlier today. Now hop in. I got a great spot we can go to."

* * *

All Chawmen needed to know was that this was her first date. She seemed civilized yet her shyness was also an indication of her not going out much or even hanging out with many friends. If anything, Chawmen felt that she must have only understood romance through magazines, television shows, and other media. And all those showed was people going on dinner dates, going to movies, or taking walks in the park.

He wasn't going for any of that, though.

Chawmen and Pung began their evening by going to a drive thru to get some food prior to going to a skating ring, where he taught her how to skate, which was very funny. In just an hour, she was trying to dance around like a ballerina, which they both got great laughs out of, too. Right after, they grabbed some ice cream as they were on the way to a baseball game, where he managed to get front row seats without a problem.

They left in the middle of the game and did karaoke prior to getting a couple drinks and just driving around, listening to music.

Doing a multitude of activities in one day was the best way Chawmen knew how to loosen someone up - especially a female he just met. It didn't take hard for Pung to show the real her - a soulful female who just wanted to have a great time and laugh a lot. The dimples that showed on her face every time her natural pink luscious lips curled into a smile sent a chill down Chawmen's spine.

The more time they spent together, the more and more he felt like he wanted - no - needed her.

Just as Chawmen was outside her house, which was a small apartment in comparison to his, though nothing dirty, he asked her, "Would you like to watch a movie with me inside?"

Pung really wanted to, but had to get up early because she had to do a few commercials that were rather small time. Regardless, people in the industry took it very seriously and appreciated punctuality. As much as she'd love to have him over, she needed to head out. "Aww, I would love to, but I can't! I've got work tomorrow morning'..."

Chawmen's smile softened. "Yeah, right, I forgot - the commerical." He really wanted to go in and just hang out, though. The thought of sex didn't occur to him until now because he was thinking about the fact that he didn't want anything else other than her company - for the innocence that she put on display was virtually tantalizing. But it was then that his lust came over him - and his hopes of using her in the future. "Well..." he leaned over for a kiss. Pung noticed it at the last moment and turned her head just in time for her cheeks to be met with his soft lips. Chawmen snickered a bit as he came back. "How about that?"

Pung was hot red. The last time she had a kiss on the cheek by anyone other than her parents was by a boy 3 years younger than her when she was 11. She was hot red then and she was now. But it didn't mean that she didn't like Chawmen any less. He was really sweet and straightforward with the fact that he took genuine interest in her.

But just when she thought Chawmen couldn't be more direct and honest, he came out with this: "You're a really sweet girl, you know. Miss Kao - Pung Kao - you stepped out your comfort zone just to hang out with me and that tells me that you're interested. Now I don't say we should go steady now but just know that if things keep going the way they are, then I just might have to stop talking to every other female out there and focus solely on you."

Pung didn't know what to say at first.

He just openly admitted that he was dating other women.

But what else could she expect? She had guys looking and taking interest in her all the time, yet was either too scared, repulsed, or nervous to do anything with them. Chawmen had this calming and alluring vibe surrounding him, so it just made sense that he'd have people pursuing him as well. A part of her felt that they could form something as well if they were to go steady.

And despite the fact that it was way too early to tell.

Pung felt like this was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

And being the young girl that she was, she had to take it.

"Well, I say you drop all those women now and focus on me. We don't have to go steady but we can see how it goes...?"

Chawmen fell silent for a moment. This caused Pung to grow nervous, but once the three lettered word, "Yes" came from him mouth, she was put in high spirits. She leaned over, gave him a quick peck on the lips and then got out the car to head home.

As he watched her walk back home, Chawmen let out a deep sigh. Sure enough, she didn't hold promising valuables like all the other females he messed with, but there was something different about her that he liked. He could actually have his attention on her and not worry about anything else - not gifts or sex. Her personality was so vibrant and unlike all the other promiscuous females that he just couldn't help it.

One thing about Chawmen was that most the women he looked into was older and more established - which was why he got a lot, but this one? She was young, most definitely a virgin, and just pure soothing energy.

"I need to have her."

* * *

But thinking he could just knock his nature down and start an entirely different lifestyle was far too much to ask of himself.

Instinctively, without even thinking about it, he drove up to a house that was not his own, invited himself in, walked up the stairs to a dimly red lit room with rose pedals on the bed, looking directly at a woman who only had the sheets covering the lower half of his body. Pung crossed his mind briefly and made him stop taking his shirt off. He stood there, staring at the woman for a good three minutes before he went back into pilot mode.

Chawmen climbed into the bed and woke up the woman with a nice surprise.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey, Chawmen...wanna play together?"

"Chawmen...why don't you hang out with me?"

"Hey, Chawmen, let's go out together..."

"I'm in love with you, Chawmen..."

* * *

Chawmen always had a way with women, ever since he was a child. Girls would always be on him in school, giving him cards, candy, gifts, etc. When he was in middle and high-school, he wasn't looked at as a lady killer, but THE lady killer. Girls grew jealous, but Chawmen was able to do the impossible: hold multiple girls down and convince them that they were the only one for him - even in a small social setting. And whenever questioned about all these other girls, Chawmen was capable of lying and setting matters up to his own convenience to where he could use these females whenever possible.

And once High School was over, he ghosted. Chawmen moved on to older women. And because of his charm, they gave him money, clothes, and some even bought him cars. He lived vicariously through women, so much to the point that he persuaded himself that he loved each and every single one of them. He made them feel great and they did things for him.

But he didn't realize how bad it would be, breaking a woman's heart. He was so diligent that he never had to see it for himself.

Though there's a first time for everything.

* * *

Right outside the corner of a luxurious apartment in the Eastern Capitol, Chawmen was just walking to meet with Pung. They had been getting well with one another all too great for months now. He felt something was different about this one, yet the feeling was indescribable - as if they were written to be together for a greater purpose far beyond them. He always preached he'd do his best by her, but even when the ship seems to be running along smoothly for a while, there is some hardship bound up ahead. Lo and behold, he came across a nice looking older female and just couldn't help himself. He made a simple compliment on her attire and once the woman got a good look at him, her eyes twinkled and her hairs stood up straight - she had to have him. By the end of their hour long conversation, getting caught up in the moment, Chawmen manages to steal a kiss, which the woman laughs at before walking away.

Of course, he managed to get her number.

Feeling all macho and classy, he had a toothpick in his mouth as he walked away. Chawmen made his way to Pung's home and entered the door.

There she was, standing still in a white T and some black spandex shorts. Her face and eyes were as red as tomatoes as she had her arms crossed and standing there.

Chawmen, thinking something else happened, tried to approach her, but she backed off and screamed, "Don't you dare! Don't you dare touch me!"

Confused, Chawmen asked her, "What's wrong?"

Pung sniffed and went onto the couch. Unable to help herself, the crying started. The utter shame and embarrassment at the fact that Chawmen knew what he did yet he feigned absolute ignorance. So shamed, she buried her face in her arms. "Get out," she muffled.

Not able to hear because of the stifled sounds, Chawmen took a few steps forward just to get near. Once Pung turned around, she screamed out loud, "Get the fuck out right now!"

Just out of pure rage, she jumped and clawed Chawmen right across the face, leaving a nasty gash on his well-defined cheek. Both of them then immediately paused and stared at one another. The crying stopped, but Pung was breathing heavily.

Over the past year, she had done so much for this man: putting in word for him to be a model and helping him make money. She gave to him when he didn't have anything and so much more. Pung invested her soul into this man in hopes she'd have a nice loving family as she did growing up. She thought he had changed once he admitted that he was messing with other women and said that he only had eyes for her. She could only shake her head. Pung was played for a fool.

"Don't I matter to you, Chawmen!? Doesn't our baby matter?"

A chill went right down his spine.

_"Baby?"_

Not once did Chawmen ever thought he'd have a child. The guy knew his way all around the bed and took it to the next level when it came to preventing any unwanted pregnancies. It wasn't to say he didn't want a family eventually...but he didn't feel ready right now - especially since there was static in the relationship.

"Yes, your baby - our baby, Chawmen! For goodness sakes, I'm pregnant with your kid!" She lowered her voice as she took in a deep breath. "I was going to tell you tonight…"

Chawmen's mouth went wide, so wide that he had to cover it with both hands. In disbelief, he stumbled back and pressed himself up against the door of the apartment. Pung Kao stood there, clenching her jaw continuously, just looking at them. Chawmen never really imagined himself having a kid - hell the thought never even occurred to him, but reality had gave him a surprise right hook across the face. As it would take most a while for it to really register, it didn't take long for this guy. No, he could feel his life flash before his very eyes.

The five minutes of silence and just staring at one another felt like hell and eternity. Tears still fell down Pung's face, but she didn't cry out loud. Chawmen just saw by her demeanor the amount of pain that she was holding down deep inside. His presence definitely wasn't wanted. It'd only perpetuate the worst of feelings.

"Why can't you make a real living, get a real job, like you told me!? Seeing you kissing on some slut by the street clearly tells me that you have sugar mamas all over town! Don't you!? And the fact that you did it right here - by my home! Have you any decency!?"

Chawmen really didn't know what to say, other than the truth. As he would love to think of the best way to say it, he just couldn't. And for that reason, when he told the truth, he told it to her raw - so much that it even seemed cold. "That's all I'm good at. And if we're going to have a child, I need to at least keep doing what I-"

"No, you can get out and never come back!"

Pung wasn't even going to remotely let him contemplate entertaining the idea of him getting to continuously sleep around and use women while she would have to work tooth and nail in just making sure their child had a good life. She would be working and he, what? Messing with other women, having sex, going out...constantly!? He'd still be living his best life, having made no genuine sacrifices as a parent would have and to put up with that would only have Pung further degrade herself as a person. She had enough already.

There wasn't anything else to be said. That was it. As silence crept in the room once more, Chawmen thought of the kid he was supposed to have with Pung.

What if it was a girl? He'd teach her how to be a true lady and to know when a man is just only using her. He knows a player like the back of his hand because all he has to do is look in the mirror and he's right there. But how could she listen to him when a woman is innately attracted to a man that holds certain qualities as her father? As much pride he takes in being able to use women to his own favor, he'd hate to see his own child being inevitably left in the dust subsequent to being all used up during her best years. He wouldn't stand for it and just thinking about it made him hate the type of person he was. It made him re-think a lot of his past actions.

But what if he had a boy? He'd preach on and on to his son about being a real man and becoming self-sufficient - as any real father should. But how could he do that if he's not leading by example? He's not a hard worker - just a charismatic pretty boy that only cares for himself. His son would only see what his father does and subconsciously take from him, continuing the cycle of debauchery and heart-break.

Chawmen knew right then and there that he wouldn't be a great parent - much less a potentially great husband. No, not a great father to his unborn child, nor a great husband to Pung. She was too great of a woman and she slacked off on her modeling career just to establish further rapport with him. She took a part time job and helped people out for money to settle down and have their own place. She wanted to know what it was like to be with Chawmen before they started their family.

Now they were going to have a family and everything was beginning to spiral all out of control.

He wouldn't stop and she couldn't keep a man like him.

Taking those five steps out the door felt like the longest walk in his entire life. With each sound his foot made as it came off the floor and back down, the closer Pung was to breaking down. Once the door opened, her face scrunched up and a waterfall of tears came down her face.

Once the click was heard, she buried her face into the pillow and screamed at the top of her lungs.

She literally gave up her career and for what?

Some unexpected child, one she truly didn't want anymore because of unfortunate circumstances. But she knew she had to step up to the plate.

So that's what she was going to do.

By any means necessary.


	3. Chapter 3

The next few years were pure hell, trying to balance raising a baby on her own and working to support the kid. Pung had the money for Yamcha to be babysat for the first few years but as time passed, he got needier and needier, and it was hard for her.

Trying to make something of herself now that she had nobody to fall back onto with a dependent child was just virtually impossible at this point. The luxurious apartment that they once lived in - gone. The succulent food that Pung was very well used to dining in - gone. Nice showers - unreachable. The place she currently lived in was far from luxurious. The food she ate on nowadays was the absolute antithesis of succulent. And she was lucky just to be able to shower in rain.

It was hot every single day - so hot that Pung felt like her child could die of a stroke at literal any moment. The big smile plastered on his face was just a big smile because he was being a baby whenever he didn't have any needs, but she knew how anything could sneak up on her child at anytime. She made sure that no matter what, she did what she had to do in order for her and her baby to survive.

There were literally no boundaries at this point. Despite living up in a first world environment, she got a true taste of what struggle was like and it was just fulfilling to be able to provide for her child in some way.

Diablo Desert was where they happened to be now. Living inside one of the many rock pillars was all she could do now since affording rent and paying bills in a regular city was all too much. Little Yamcha didn't seem to mind, though.

As long as the boy had food, his toys, and his mom, he was alright. To him, Pung was the most beautiful woman in the world. She'd always go over pictures of her as a younger girl and reminisce about the times, telling Yamcha that she was destined for greatness one day. Whenever the boy would ask why not anymore, Pung could only respond that he came into this world and now it's just his turn to be great. Of course he didn't really understand what he meant exactly, but that solemn look on her face just conveyed to the child that this was a big deal to her and for that reason, it weighed heavily on him as well.

While eating, Pung looked out through a little hole as she stood on a ladder. From afar, she spotted a car rolling on down the way over. Her eyes saw a rolling set of dollar bills in the area and she knew that she had to take her chance now at making some money. She looked back over to Yamcha, whose face was stuffed with dumplings and soup. Seeing that he was content put a smile on her face, and as much as she hated leaving him here by himself, she had to do it. Yamcha was always needy of her and hated when she was gone, which was quite evident as he would hug her so tight every time she was gone for even just an half hour at times. Plus, his birthday was coming up so she really wanted to do something special for him.

"Hey, baby, mommy's going to be back, okay?"

"You gonna get money?" Yamcha asked with a full mouth. The kid already knew the routine at this point and was quite used to it, but it didn't mean that he didn't wish his mother was home with him. Though young, he understood the fundamental importance of money and why she needed it, so as a child looking up to his parent, who of course knows better than him, had no choice but to abide by her actions and accept to everything she did as being right and just - no matter how degrading it possibly could have been.

Every time she looked at him, she saw his father. Part of her disliked her own son for that, but at the end of the day, he was her child and she was willing to do everything for him. She didn't have friends growing up - always focused on herself. As much as she'd love to have some right now to help her take care of her child, she could only work with whatever hand she had been dealt.

Pung came down, gave Yamcha a kiss on the cheek and told him to sit tight. "You know I am, baby. I'll get enough money to get you that cool sword you want for your birthday next week, kay?"

He giggled as she pinched his cheek and gave him a little kiss on the forehead. He sat at the dinner table and began playing with his little toys, waiting for his mother to handle her business.

She never came back that night.

* * *

Yamcha sat home and waited. Though only three, he was very smart since his mother took all whatever time she had left training him to use his head and be smart. He knew how to make his own little meals, had been potty trained, and change his own clothes. Still, being all alone in the house for the past week wasn't comfortable.

He cried every single night, wishing his mother would come back.

All he yearned for was to see her beautiful face again - to feel her motherly touch and feel like nothing else mattered, because to him, it didn't. Only his mother did.

Spending his fourth birthday alone wasn't exactly something he expected. As much as he wanted a cool sword he saw one that one time while in the city with his mom and some strange guy, Yamcha would just die to have something to eat right now. Food was pretty much low and his clothes were dirty. All this time being in the house alone felt like years. Yamcha knew that he couldn't just sit back and wait anymore.

Not a second after stepping out the door, the kid was hit hard with the bright sun and quickly hid under one of the rock pillars just to get some shade. Not once would he ever come outside without his mother, but now he had no choice. He had to find food somewhere.

As he made way around the desert more and more, Yamcha continued to feel himself grow exhausted. His throat was as dry as sandpaper and stomach as empty as a car with no motor. Knees weak and legs heavy, the boy was just about ready to fall over on his face. But not too far, under a rock pillar, he saw a blanket with a whole bunch of food on it. With his survival instincts kicked in, the child started running for it.

He grabbed at all of the food and started munching down on it without a single thought. The more full his belly got, the less exhausted he began to feel and the less the sun got to him. The best part was having that nice, cool water wash it all down for hydration.

The four year old let out a loud burp before tossing the bottle over.

**"You son of a bitch!"**

The boy was tackled roughly into the ground, face planting face first prior to sliding. The adult who jumped on top of him turned Yamcha around and started to beat him as if he was a grown man. He ignored the kid's cries and just took his anger out on him for eating at his own ration of food.

If death was a sentient being drawing close to the four year old boy, it would have been stopped dead in its tracks and told to turn around; for the guy who was hitting on a three-year old child was grabbed by his neck and tossed over to the floor like a puppy who just bit its owner's kid.

"What do you think you're doing, beating on a child like that!?" the stranger boomed.

The voice wasn't heard by Yamcha as the kid's lights had flicked out from the tackle. There was nothing but black as he drifted off to a state of unconsciousness.

* * *

Waking up, surrounded by a multitude of faces and some murmurs worried Yamcha. The little boy's eyes were as wide as they could get for being swollen. Very seldom did he get to meet other people. Just coming close to one without his mother by his side was a panic attack waiting to happen and here there were over 2 dozen people all up in his face.

And then he instantly remembered what happened before he was knocked out.

Not knowing what else to do, Yamcha started wailing out loud, crying and asking for his mommy. The cries pissed off a few people, so they turned around and walked off. Some commented on how they just needed to leave him for the opposition as very few believed it best to shut him up.

People began to talk more and more, but once a special someone came along, demanding everyone to close their mouths, silence ensued. Yamcha himself even stopped crying once the booming voice echoed through the wild area.

The man to show his face looked insanely rugged. Everyone in the area merely wore animal skins and pelts as if they were neanderthals, but to be able to survive out in the wild as they did showed they weren't simple-minded.

What was most intimidating about him was the scar across his left ear all the way to his right and another scar that drove down his lip, separating his mustache and mountain man like beard.

"Be afraid of us not, child." He reached his hand out to the boy. "What is your name?"

The reassuring smile on the man's face put Yamcha at ease. He didn't know why, but there was something about him. He didn't look like his mother, nor did he give off the same feeling she did, but it was as if he was a sheet of protection - he was a man that emanated dominance, confidence, and leadership.

Yamcha reluctantly stuck his hand out and slapped his hand. In order to lighten up the mood, he giggled after saying, "I'm Yamcha!"

The man smiled right back at him. Losing his own wife and son was a major loss to him but he still had to look out for all the others that were under him. To see the child down and dying by himself in the middle of the desert wasn't a good look.

"Nice to meet you, young lad." He looked around to check on all the remaining people. For the most part, everyone lost interest in the kid and took off to do their own thing. Only just about a handful of people remained, undeterred by the arrival of this newcomer. "I am Arufa."

One of them was a 10 year old girl who stood with her back against the tree next to a guy who was crouched down, playing with the bugs in the wet soil of the wild area. Yamcha didn't get to have a good look at either of them.

The other was a boy around his age that was breaking off branches on the trees and using rocks to sharpen them. One of the other children, a little girl around Yamcha's size, was all close to him and even offered the boy a cup of water made of wood and some green cream.

Yamcha knew to grab the water but wasn't all too sure about the green cream. He chugged it all down and gave it back to the girl and told her thanks. She giggled as she leaned close and put the cream over his face, which made Yamcha wince.

"Stand still and let Kuri help you. It'll heal the hurting wounds on your face."

Yamcha wasn't sure but so far, the people here seemed to be helping him out, so he let her help him. As Kuri put the cream on Yamcha's face and spread it around, Arufa continued to introduce everyone else.

"The two behind me are Akita and Raskel. And that boy over there is Chinur."

Yamcha was still unable to make out everyone except for Kuri and Arufa since they were so close. He could hear the others talking a distance away and even felt the stares, but he didn't care.

"Where am I?" Yamcha asked.

Arufa knew for a fact that Yamcha didn't have anyone. Diablo Desert wasn't his residence, but the territory of his extended family, where he goes to sometimes trade and communicate to catch up.

Whenever he and some of his underlings came across a woman's decaying body and found an empty wallet with pictures of the same kid that he found being beaten on by one of his nephews, he put it all together. This boy - who had no family - needed a home otherwise it would have been him having no choice but to be left for the wolves.

"You're with your new family, Yamcha. This is my pack."

"And we want to welcome you home," Kuri said with a big smile.

As it would appear, luck seemed to be right on Yamcha's side.


	4. Chapter 4

Yamcha had a rather hard time making new friends with the older folk of this little gang. He couldn't describe it, but the looks of disgust he had received whenever he tried to interact with them were so strong that he'd be a fool to not feel it.

Rather hungry after being brought back to health and all, Yamcha saw one of the older people munching on a mango fruit. The little boy was right beside Arufa, who was talking about the full moon that was coming up rather soon. The entire time he's been here, he's been by that man's side, but his hunger was getting the best of him. He needed something to eat — soon.

Yamcha glanced around to make sure nobody was watching him. For the most part, nobody really was as there were people either in their own tents or just out talking. He didn't notice that Kuri was looking dead at him, though she was behind.

Kuri sat there, eating on little nuts and watched as Yamcha approached a young female who couldn't be more than sixteen years old, conversing with her boyfriend. As they were in the midst of a conversation, Yamcha grabbed the lady by the hand to get her attention.

Thinking it was one of the kids of the pack, she looked down ready to aid someone like Akita or Kuri, but upon seeing it was the little boy with the long and ragged patched hair, she jerked her hand away with a subtle scoff. "What do you want?"

Arufa was quick to realize that Yamcha wasn't by his side and caught on to where the boy was. He witnessed precisely what Yamcha was doing; begging for food.

The four year old was too shy to open up verbally, which got on the female's nerves, but he made it obvious what he wanted whenever he pointed to the food that she was holding in her hand. She raised it near her face and asked him, "Oh, this?" She then put the food in her mouth. "Sowwy, I'm all out."

Yamcha just put his head down as his lips curled downward. He turned around to go back near Arufa, but he didn't have to walk very far upon bumping right into him. Looking up, he saw the intense look on his face, one that would intimidate a simple man's soul.

"Berra, you have more than enough food to last you for the entire duration of the full moon, so be a good pack member and share." He placed his hand on Yamcha's head and ruffled his head a little bit. "Everyone that's part of the pack gets treated the same. He is like family to us now."

"Oh, spare me," she started. "You're only helping the brat out because you kn-"

Before she could spit another word, Arufa slammed her against the bark of the tree she was nearby and revealed his sharp teeth, growling as if he were an animal protecting a cub. "Come again?"

Berra took a deep breath and just nodded her head, signalling to her boyfriend that he give Yamcha some food. Once the food was given to him, Yamcha's mouth was so wide and stretched that his teeth could shine up a planet with no sun. Arufa noticed the satisfaction on the boy's face. Yamcha's positive expression was contagious enough to bring his feral growl to a smirk.

Yamcha ran back over to Kuri and held his hand out to show her the berries, nuts, and little cube cut pieces of raw meat that had salt sprinkled on them. Kuri saw that he was offering it to her and was kind enough to take some berries to add to the nuts she already had.

Yamcha sat down next to her and the two just ate side by side.

So far, he was only comfortable around Kuri and Arufa because of their hospitality and willingness to help out.

Everyone that had witnessed the display of dominance that Arufa made were just reminded of the very reason to not and try to disobey for any reason. Every single decision that he made as their leader was a decision that would help the pack in the long run. Everyone knew it, but people were just too stubborn and prideful at times.

Arufa came down and kneeled before Yamcha. "This doesn't happen as much as you think, but you better be sure that you'll get your share, too." Subsequent to getting up, Arufa walked over right in the middle of the area. He jerked his head up and let out a brief howl to catch the attention of everyone.

People came out of their tents and stopped doing what they were doing to listen on the word that was soon to be shared.

"Tonight, the full moon will be upon us! You already know the rules, but since we have a newcomer here: let me go over this once again. Rule number one: while we take form, we stay in control! For the young ones that are just being recruited into the hunt, stick with the older and experienced so that they can guide you to be on your best behavior. It'll be hard at first and there may be casualties, but we intimidate tourists to take their goods - not to kill!" He raised a finger and looked dead at Yamcha. "Number two: we do not kill- under any circumstances." He continued to speak. "Rule number three: be weary of territory. You smell anything unfamiliar and funny? It's because it doesn't belong to us! Rule number four: just stick together; a weak pack isn't a pack at all. And what are we!?"

Getting all riled up for tonight, everyone chanted, "We are a pack!" Most of the men and some of the females all imitated howls.

Arufa just grinned.

Later on that night, everyone grouped together as the sun began to set. On the other side, the moon was rising and people started to feel their hearts race.

Kuri and Yamcha just stood along and watched as the young teens and older folk all started to howl and shift into hairy creatures with pointy ears. Their eyes changed color to a amber, yellow, and some even green. Arufa was the only one of the pack that had dark, bright orange eyes. None of them changed into actual wolves that stood on all fours, but were more so anthropomorphic looking with a bulkier appearance. However, they had the option to run like wolves.

There was a clear pathway in the woods for where they always went to hunt - many pathways actually. Arufa was the main leader but as he led the brigade, he had captains and such to lead others so that they didn't run too deep all at once.

One of the wolves, Akita, who was changing just for the third time, being 10 years old, ran over to Yamcha and rubbed her face against his. Like a pet wanting acceptance from its owner, she also licked his face and moistened his cheek with her damp snout. Feeling the fur on her body and rubbing it, Akita licked his arm. Both Yamcha and Kuri pet Akita.

All of the werewolves howled in unison before running out. Akita didn't waste anytime and turned around, kicking dust up as they headed out for the hunt.

It was from that moment on that Yamcha knew some part of this was going to stick with him forever.

Since most of the pack was gone, there had to be some people left behind for guard duty. Since the feeling of being one with the pack was like no under for the entire length of three entire full moons, those considered to be on bad behavior or those that required disciplinary action were the ones that stayed back to guard.

Berra was one of those people.

Pissed off at the fact she had to stay behind because she treated some outsider like an actual outsider, she was hoping to achieve some get-back. All of the young kids were safe and sound asleep as she and a few people her age were on look-out.

Berra was on guard with Grelmon at a certain spot while others were spread out by other pathways. The entire time, Berra couldn't stop complaining about how they were stuck here because of that bastard kid, Yamcha.

Grelmon, being her cousin, was willing to do whatever it took to make her feel better. He was strong on family and close with the pack, though hard-headed, which explained why he was stuck on guard duty instead of roaming out with the pack. Though he felt strongly connected with his family, he didn't consider Yamcha part of the pack, for he didn't have the blessing and curse of carrying the wolf gene.

"What would you like me to do?"

It was at this point that Berra started to scheme.

With her hands resting on her chin, rubbing it as if she had a beard, it only took all but half a minute before she snapped her fingers with the perfect idea. "What's the only way that you know a man can dominate another man and make it stick with him for the rest of his life?"

Grelmon didn't even need to answer the question. He knew that Berra knew exactly what was running through that demented mind of his.

* * *

Yamcha and Kuri were friends. Nothing more. Both being the same age, neither understood the concept of reproduction and because of their ignorance of the adult world, the two shared the same tent, sleeping together with no problem.

When the curtains to the tent opened, Yamcha and Kuri didn't move an inch and just kept sleeping. It wasn't until that Grelmon towered over the two of them that the kids woke up, for they played most of the night and had just went to sleep barely moments earlier.

Yamcha looked up, eyes sagging as he really needed sleep. "W-What's going on-"

Grelmon covered his mouth and pushed the boy on the ground. Yamcha didn't do as much as make a sound.

Berra just remained by the pathway, acting as if she was sleep. She knew exactly what was going on from the moment she heard Kuri begging Grelmon to leave Yamcha alone. Anyone with a conscience would have gone in and stopped the terror, but she didn't. She merely turned her head with a smile of satisfaction.

For the next four days, Yamcha didn't bother to leave the tent. The kid didn't eat, pee, poop, or sleep. He merely sat in the corner in a fetal position, eyes wide, body shaking. Kuri did her best to be a friend to him, but it was as if Yamcha was stuck in some kind of trance. Just whenever she came near him, he'd grow red in the face and carry on as if he was on the verge of having a full blown mental breakdown.

It wasn't until he heard Arufa's voice one morning that he came dashing out of the tent, bypassing everyone, just to wrap his arms around the man's waist. He held it all in for the past few days, but when his protector came back home, Yamcha let it all out.

The kid cried so much that he was unable to breathe for a good minute and a half. None of the members of the pack had witnessed something to such a degree before, though the older ones felt as if they knew what was up.

Arufa was confused as to why Yamcha was acting like this all of a sudden. Both of them were people, but they were bred differently. Werewolves were just much tougher than normal people mentally and physically, yet seeing this little boy cry as if his world had been ruined pulled on Arufa's heartstrings.

With just a simple glance to the side, he spotted a menacing grinned plastered over Grelmon's face. It didn't take Arufa long to understand what was going on. Barely able to control his temper, Arufa practically sprinted over to Grelmon, grabbed him by the neck and carried him away out of sight and ear-shot from the others.

Akita was there to comfort Yamcha and bring isolate themselves by going near a river bank which was the border of their territory and another's. Kuri watched as they walked off and even had a few tears coming down her eyes. She tried to help but couldn't do anything at all, and even felt guilty.

Yamcha and Akita spotted a few people on the other side and none of them bothered to even look back.

She tried to get Yamcha to sit down, but every time he did, he'd just jump right back up. Akita reached into a pouch she had and handed him a bunch of fruits and nuts. Being without food for a few days didn't hit Yamcha hard until he visibly saw some being offered right in the palm of her hand.

As he grabbed them like a man going through countless phases of starvation, Akita grinned. Once Yamcha stopped and looked back up at her smile, he smiled, too.

This was the first time he really got a good look at Akita. He witnessed her transforming and coming toward him and Kuri much earlier, but being this close, he was mesmerized by her face - it was just like his mother's. The dirt and mud on her face didn't take away any moment of the beauty she shared with Pung - not by a long shot.

"Thank you," Yamcha mumbled.

Akita rubbed his head and patted him. "No problem, lil' buddy."

Arufa came out from the side, all nonchalant. He had been watching the two kids for a while now, but after their little bonding moment, he decided to step in. The one different thing about him that Yamcha noticed was that he was carrying a curved sword that was holstered on his side. He didn't say a single word to Akita - just motioned his head to the side, nonverbally signalling for her to move along so he could be along with Yamcha.

Arufa crouched down to get eye-level with Yamcha. "Hey, how are you feeling?"

"Better."

Everything started to suddenly come back to Yamcha. The kid went right over by the river bank and started peeing in it. Arufa was respectful enough to turn his back toward Yamcha until the noises came to a stop.

"Yamcha…" Arufa started. "Being in this pack isn't easy." He walked over to a big tree, drew his sword, and used it to cut down some fruits to cut them and eat. He didn't dare speak with a mouth full so that Yamcha could understand every single word that came out of his mouth. "You'll need to be tough mentally, as well as physically. You're going to need to learn how to fight back not just to protect yourself, but those around you."

Shifting his body, Arufa faced Yamcha from afar. "You need to learn how to fight."

Fighting was a concept that Yamcha only understood with his toys and with television whenever he and his mom would take trips to strange men's homes. But as far as doing it? He didn't get it. Kuri oftened wrestled with kids around their age, yet whenever she came around him, she never bothered doing such things. It was as if she understood he was just different.

Arufa approached Yamcha and lowered himself to get eye-level with the boy. "Only my late mother and son knew of the technique called the Wolf Fang Fist. It's only a technique used by great martial artists that are in touch with themselves spiritually. For it to be used by anyone in their wrong mind would be dangerous for innocent people. That is why no other member in the pack knows of it." He lightly shoved his finger against Yamcha's chest. "And that's why I am going to teach you everything I know. You, Yamcha, will know what it is like to fight in the style of a wolf."

* * *

** Rogafufuken!**

"There you go! Just like that!"

Eight straight years of training from Arufa. Yamcha was slow to catch on at first but he eventually got the hang of the style of the wolf. Arufa was training him for more than just the reason of protecting himself and others, but to prove something as well.

The 12 year old boy had long, rugged hair and tended to be dirty, though it was because he was always training, 24/7. The little time he had to spend with the pack, Yamcha would always try to get close with Akita, but it wasn't for all that much time.

Over the passing time, he and Kuri drifted apart. She'd always try to connect with him but Yamcha just felt too awkward around her. He felt better around Akita, even though they barely hung around. Part of him felt bad for not talking to Kuri, but with her out of his sight, that traumatizing night wasn't all in his head. He believed that Kuri may have hated him, but given how she still tried to be his friend, he couldn't imagine so.

Yamcha had learned to move around with swiftness and great diligence. Arufa used to be there all the time to guide him but once he got the hang of it, Yamcha trained on his own for the most part. He grew his nails out and clawed the tree before him with such force that chunks of bark came off.

Before Yamcha could deliver the big blow, Arufa placed his hands around the boy's wrist. "Now…that's enough training for today."

Yamcha looked back at Arufa and just grinned. "When do I get to fight someone already? I've been waiting for a while now!" He threw a few punches with genuine quickness as he bounced around on his tippy toes. He felt himself get strong and hoped that he could just at least use his newfound power to take it out on someone.

Arufa just grinned. "Today, actually."

Yamcha's brow cocked up. At first he wasn't sure if the pack leader was just joking around or not, but once he saw that same ole' look plastered over his face, Yamcha just knew that he wasn't joking around. It was then that the adrenaline started to kick in despite the fact that he didn't even see the face of the person he was going to fight.

"Alright!" Yamcha did a pump fist.

"But," Arufa raised a finger. "Let me tell you a story: see, a long time ago, when I was young like you, I had just joined the hunt. Being the son of the pack leader back then, there was a lot of responsibility on my shoulders. Whenever my father died when I was around 15, I had to step up. At the time, we were struggling greatly; we were at war with a rival pack and the battle continued on. Whenever everything calmed down and a truce was made, I had to do something. It was then that I decided to enter the Tenkaichi Budokai."

He leaned in and smiled. "Do you want to know who I fought?"

Curious, Yamcha nodded his head.

"A young man by the name of Son Gohan. He was a bit older than me but I thought I had all the skill in the world. I made it all the way to the semi-finals in hopes of winning it all so I could win what those societal drones call money so that I could buy an abundance of food since we were low on game. Gohan whooped my butt fair and square, but I was furious back then. I had come so far just to lose and I demanded a rematch!" Just thinking about those events back then made Arufa feel all nostalgic, but he didn't dwell on it much and continued with his story. "I thought the guy was so arrogant when he told me that he was even willing to let me fight under any advantageous circumstances if I liked. I demanded we fight under the full moon two weeks later in my home-land, where I had all the advantages. Despite me telling him I was a werewolf, he didn't care. We met up and we fought."

"And you won!?" Yamcha asked.

Arufa scoffed. "Of course not. He was trained by none other than Roshi, a man proclaimed to be the greatest Martial Artist of all time, but in all reality, Roshi himself admitted that Gohan was better than he." He raised his finger again. "Now; remember that I said that I thought the guy was arrogant, but in all reality, he just wanted to teach me a lesson: humility. He didn't even lay a finger on me - just used the great stick of heaven."

The great stick of heaven? Yamcha had never heard such a term before but listened in. "What's that?"

"It's the power pole, a helping stick that brings you to the heavens. Son Gohan had it in his possession. He was such a great warrior that by some way, he must have been accepted by none other than God himself. He demanded it to reach out and the stick just grew for however long it took to smack me right in the chest. I was beaten in one strike. Game over. By the end of it all, he told me that one should never underestimate their opponent, even when you have what you feel to be an advantage. They just might have something that you don't."

Yamcha soaked all of that in like a sponge. Every word that Arufa told him had nothing but truth in it. Arufa never steered Yamcha wrong, so there was no reason for him to start now.

Once he was finished talking, Arufa turned around and began walking away. "I arranged for the two of you to meet up at this exact time." He placed his finger in his mouth and whistled.

Out from the bushes came that old so familiar face: Grelmon. He had a scar over one of his missing eyes with his cut lip curled into a smirk. "Hello, old friend."

Old friend?

Was that really what he thought of him? As an old friend!?

That bastard knew what he did. Getting hot, Yamcha just charged in for Grelmon at full speed. The older of the two side-stepped Yamcha, grabbed him by his hair and tossed him over to the ground.

Yamcha got back up angrily and dashed for the man again, only to get met with a fist right across the face, which was followed up by a knee to the nose and an uppercut to the chin. Yamcha came stumbling back and fell over on his butt.

Grelmon chuckled.

Yamcha hopped back up and clawed the man across the face right over his other eye. Grelmon stumbled back, clutching it, in disbelief. Yamcha looked on at him with an expressionless look on his face.

But his eyes told the whole story.

He didn't just want to fight.

He wanted blood.

"Master taught me to not fight angry," Yamcha mumbled, "master taught me to not fight angry."

Grelmon looked over to Arufa, who simply stood with his arms folded. The pack leader knew the importance of keeping every member possible and had he not neutered and injured Grelmon for his actions all those years ago, the other option would have been for him to leave, but he couldn't allow that.

He needed to see Yamcha get his own retribution.

The young fighter crouched down and bent his left arm forward as he bent the right backward, forming his hands in a clawed position. Grelmon continued to taunt Yamcha, speaking on no matter what he does, he'll forever be weak.

"I'll own you like I did that night, boy."

It was at that moment a spark lit in Yamcha's eyes. The boy could feel his rage rising, but by controlling it, he focused his ki into all different areas of his body in order to utilize the special attack.

It wasn't apparent to Arufa, but for Grelmon, he could see a wolf's silhouette towering over Yamcha as he focused.

**"WOLF FANG FIST!"**

Grelmon didn't know what hit him.

Yamcha rushed in with such speed that Arufa had to do a double take. The 12 year-old clawed Grelmon all across the face, swiped at his chest and finished with a double open palm strike dead center of the abdomen, sending him flying off his two feet and through a tree, which tipped over.

Yamcha hopped off the ground and came right on top of Grelmon, punching him across the face relentlessly. All the emotion that he had built up was beginning to come out.

Arufa took quick notice of this.

Before he could render Grelmon a fatal blow, Yamcha was tugged by his long hair and tossed to the ground.

"Enough," Arufa told him sternly, "you've made your point. Remember, Yamcha: we **DO NOT** kill. Killing will just bring us over the edge, turn us into mindless beasts as many think of us as. We are not mindless beasts! We have a conscience! Keep that in mind!"

Yamcha got up huffing and puffing. Grelmon was about to get up, but Yamcha pushed him back down and got in his face. He showed his pearly white teeth and howled right in his face prior to snarling like a wild animal. Grelmon's eyes were wide and in disbelief. He couldn't do anything but submit to Yamcha, a 12 year old outsider.

Arufa just looked on with a sense of great pride.

There was sure to be lots of talk about this amongst the pack.

And indeed there was.

When the sun wasn't hitting as hard with the evening just on the horizon, everyone was talking about Yamcha as a witness in the pack saw everything and ran his mouth to everyone.

By the time Yamcha came back, he was more respected by those around him. It wasn't to say that he was liked now, but people understood that he wasn't somebody you could just mess with. For a pure blooded person, he really was the real deal, to be able to hang around with werewolves all his life.

As Yamcha sat down on a log in the middle of the place by a fire alongside Arufa, he was conversing about what he was going to do when he got older. Since he wasn't a werewolf, he had the freedom to leave if he saw fit, though as for others, they were just stuck with the pack.

But as far as Yamcha was concerned, this was his family. All he had to say to the big question was, "I ain't going nowhere."

This got a few good howls from the people around, which evoked a good chuckle from the young kid. Akita came up to Yamcha from behind and placed her hands on his shoulders. "What a way to prove yourself, eh?" She looked over to Arufa. "Safe to say our baby isn't a cub anymore, is he?"

Arufa just looked at Yamcha. From the way that Yamcha put on a show out there, he recognized him as no baby anymore. "That's right." He looked up to the sky, watching as the sun began to set. "I think it's time he went on his first hunt with us."

Akita patted Yamcha on the back and howled like a mad woman, bringing all sorts of attention to herself. Yamcha felt like he was high. Not only was he being more respected by his peers, but the woman he loved.

The older Yamcha got, the more he missed his mother - that beautiful face, gently packed with that tender and nurturing nature of hers. She was the best woman in the world. And Yamcha couldn't help but see that in her. Just as he was going to grab her hand and hold onto it, she let go and pat him on the back again.

"The moon is just about to come up, kid! You better get ready!"

While the sun continued to go down, people ate and filled their bellies up to prepare themselves. While at full strength, they were pretty much unstoppable. Once the moon was

The way they did things whenever they went on runs; they lined up in many different rows with just a handful of people and took different pathways. Of the 7 lines that there happened to be, Yamcha was in the third one.

Right ahead of him was Chinur, who just wouldn't shut up about how fun it is to do things as a wolf. "Ya know, sex is fun too because it's a lot more primal and animalstic. Especially when they're in heat - it's amazing!"

Yamcha, having yet understood all of those things, she clicked his tongue as he acted like he was listening to this broken record of a person. Just as he was beginning to pray for a distraction, it was at that very moment he received a tap on the shoulder.

Kuri.

"It's going to be my first time, too, ya know?"

Yamcha smiled awkwardly as he scratched the back of his head. "Ah, oh, well...that's cool. I hope you have a lot of fun."

"We can have a lot of fun, together, Yamcha, ya know, like when we were kids?"

When they were kids.

Kids.

Around the same time when the incident happened?

Yamcha felt goosebumps cross his body and let out an uncomfortable shiver. Kuri noticed this but she didn't dare comment on it because she knew where it stemmed from. She hoped that they could get over it together because they were both hurt by it, but Yamcha just couldn't face that reality for some apparent reason.

"Yo, Yamcha, why you in that line?" Raskel asked him.

Akita grinned and motioned for him to join their line. She told him nobody would care, which gave Yamcha the incentive to cross the line; and he did so happily. Kuri just looked on with a blank stare on a face that had a hint of disappointment.

From the very start, she was there to tend to Yamcha. She and Arufa were the only ones really accepting of him, yet when Akita turned into a wolf and came at him like a chia pet, he all of a sudden fell in love with her? Why couldn't Yamcha be close with her like he was with Arufa? Why couldn't he love her like he did Akita? Maybe even more!?

It made her blood boil.

* * *

Taking initiative, Kuri took all her anger out into a howl as the full moon was on its way up. Usually Arufa was the one to start it, but anybody was free to go ahead when they wanted. Everyone followed suit and started to change.

"I hope you can keep up!" Akita yelled as she changed form. All of the werewolves howled into the sky as they started to run ahead into the pathways.

Yamcha was surprisingly just as fast as his peers and managed to keep up with all of them the entire night.

He got to see what the werewolves really did out on their hunts. And despite not being a werewolf himself, he finally understood that euphoric feeling that everyone else raved on about whenever they ran as one together.

The feeling was even greater when after they cleared the pathways, the wolves eventually came together. Yamcha was in the middle, unable to remove that shit-eating grin from his face. He had been in society for a few times as he visited Diablo Desert and some other cities growing up, but he didn't feel like any of that really beat having a brotherhood to share his livelihood with.

Their routine consisted of running and nearing the tourist lands where they scoped out people that passed along to capture pictures of the wild. They would stalk these people as wolves during the night time and take turns stealing from them. Some people were able to channel the form for a bit longer as the moon was going away early morning, some weren't.

So in the early morning time, a person would shapeshift back to their normal form and rob somebody.

But now was Yamcha's turn.

Early morning, Yamcha spotted a male and an older one together outside their car: father and son. Compared to them, Yamcha looked like Tarzan - just a young wild boy that didn't know how life really was in society, but he knew all too well.

One thing that they had to bypass though were guards as they were heavily surrounding the area due to the amount of robberies that often took place around here. There were police cars and some men all caked up in armor just in case a hostile individual approached.

And he knew exactly how he was going to play them.

All the werewolves backed off and made clear way as Yamcha bypassed them all. The closer he got to appearing visible to the public, the more he started to clutch at his right arm, tearing his skin and appearing hurt.

Once the first person got a good look at him, Yamcha dropped clean over on his face. The two people closest to him were the son and the son's father. They ran over to Yamcha in an effort to assist him, but the police were quick to get them to back off to help Yamcha out.

All of the werewolves just watched Yamcha work his magic.

They all took Yamcha in for medical help, inside one of the buildings that was just about thirty minutes away.

2 and a half hours later, he came out running with sacks full of goods and people shooting at him, though he was far too fast for anyone to get a good shot. He constantly zig zagged around and did so with a pattern so abstract that it was just damn near impossible to predict where he'd be going next.

Once Yamcha jumped into one of the tree branches of the wild, he looked back at everyone driving toward him. He gave them a simple wink and smile before heading back to his pack.

He had so much food and meat that it was capable of keeping the pack fed for weeks. Granted, it was a lot of heavy work on Yamcha's behalf, but it wasn't something that he couldn't bother not handling.

After all, he had to prove his worth somehow.

The next few days were nothing special. During the day time they just chilled with one another away from the pack. One of the early mornings when pretty much everyone was in their human state, Akita had approached Yamcha, throwing an apple to him so get his attention.

Yamcha caught it easily and munched on the piece of fruit. Akita crouched down as he was just resting his head on a tree branch and smiled at him. "You've come a long way from just when you were a little boy, Yamcha. You know that, right?"

"I could only imagine," Yamcha responded. He got up on his feet and gave Akita a hug. She was rather surprised but didn't take it the wrong way and hugged him back. "You know you're one of my favorite people, right?"

All those years ago, she just decided why not give Yamcha a chance? Sure, he was an outsider, but she wanted to make him feel comfortable in the best way possible with the pack. She was glad to know that Yamcha held her up as top priority, but he had to realize she wasn't the only important member of the pack. Everyone else held equal value as well.

It was at this moment when they were so close that Yamcha really felt a spark in his heart. He knew he took kindly to Akita all those years ago, but to actually get to a point where he felt like he loved her was just...nothing short of incredible.

He backed away a bit and started to open his mouth.

It was at this moment in which he felt like he needed to admit his feelings. Who the hell cared if he was just 12 years old and she, 18? People had bigger gaps in the pack so this wasn't to matter, was it? "Akita, I need to tell you something."

Being all ears, she took a step back and raised her chin. "Yeah? What's up?"

Instead of just flat out telling her that he really loved her and hoped that they could be together with one another, Yamcha beat around the bush. "I barely remember my mom now but these feelings I had for her...they're still there, ya know? She was the only important person to me and when she left home and never came back, I didn't know what to do! Honestly, I felt betrayed, but then I came here and I meet all of you guys. There was really nothing I had to remind me of her until I me-"

"Heyo!" Raskel called out to Yamcha and Akita. "We got a big feast up over here and you two lost cubs are missin' out! C'mon!"

Akita just chuckled. She looked back to Yamcha and ruffled his head. "Say, you can finish telling me later, eh? Right now, let's go eat, huh?"

Twiddling with his thumbs, Yamcha just nodded his head. "Sure."

The feast was pretty much the best that the pack ever had out while on a hunt. Everyone was having the time of their lives eating, drinking fine water, mixing the fruits with the meat Yamcha stole, and so much more.

Yamcha was alongside Arufa for most of the time, but he paid close attention to Akita, who was talking with Raskel, Chinur, and a few other people.

All it took for him was a split second to remove his sights from Akita and she was gone. Yamcha looked around for the entire duration of the feast, but to no avail. By the time everybody was done eating, the evening was on the horizon and the moon was getting ready to come up.

Yamcha asked Arufa permission to be dismissed for a while and such was granted. Learning from the pack, Yamcha started to sniff out Akita's scent. The closer he got, the more concocted it started to feel, with a much muskier and stronger aroma.

He neared a little pond, where he saw Akita swimming in it with a big smile on her face. Her beautiful smile was so contagious that it made his cheeks go red.

There were absolutely no words to describe how Yamcha felt. His heart just dropped - almost literally in fact. Seeing Akita all smiles and holding Raskel, messing around in the water, had him frozen in place, virtually choking on his own oxygen as he struggled to breathe.

He was there for a good ten minutes without being noticed as Akita and Raskel got intimate. Whenever Arufa came near, Yamcha smelled him. Not knowing what to do, the little boy turned around and started running off at a quick pace, tears flying from his flustered and heavy cheeks.

All Arufa had to do was take a quick look over to Akita and he knew right then and there. He shook his head, knowing how Yamcha felt, but the kid didn't understand how werewolves and imprinting worked. So it would appear that was something he'd need to eventually explain to the boy later on.

Yamcha secluded himself from everyone and even went as far as trying to mask his own scent. He didn't feel this bad since that night as a kid, but for some reason in which he didn't understand, this felt a lot worse. The crying didn't stop.

Kuri had followed Yamcha, knowing that this would eventually happen, for he didn't know how werewolves choose their mates. She was hesitant to approach Yamcha for a moment but upon realizing that this would be the perfect opportunity to rekindle their friendship, she approached him from behind as he sat on a rock with his face buried in his knees.

With her touching his shoulder, Yamcha jumped up. Kuri didn't even have a chance to open her mouth before Yamcha snarled at her, "Leave me the fuck alone!" Kuri took a few steps away, taken aback at the fact that Yamcha would actually snap on her of all people. "GO!" he roared.

Yamcha surely wasn't a wolf, but certainly had the spirit of one. Kuri had imprinted on Yamcha as a little girl and he wouldn't even bother accepting him - at all.

One broken heart had just caused another one.

Kuri turned away on the verge of crying and just ran in complete shame.

Yamcha turned away and just looked at the ground, staring so hard at it that if eyes could shoot fire, he would have burned half the planet already. He stared so hard and so long that one could genuinely be convinced that he was capable of sleeping with his eyes open.

Though still as a statue, Yamcha's mind was pacing at hundreds of miles per hour.

It was here that his fear became prominent.

Not fear of abandonment.

Not fear of betrayal.

But fear of a broken heart.

And before a broken heart…

Always starts with a woman that possesses absolute beauty.


End file.
